Creating a Global Workforce to Boost a Corporation's Intellectual Value
Author: Nelson Leon PH.D.

Line managers make decisions on what happens to their teams, they hire candidates that seem to have the professional abilities and the required experience to perform a wide variety of challenging projects. However, they expect Human Resources executives to make that first assumption work by providing training and development solutions or correcting the hiring error when it finally becomes apparent that the new employee lacks essential business skills to do the job effectively.

What are the essential business skills required by global companies?

If your company has global presence or does business with many countries in the world then you need to develop a workforce that is globally capable and ready to react to sudden operational changes, international crisis, global opportunities and evolving challenges in the workplace and in the global marketplace. Perhaps, it will be useful to include the following skills in your list of job requirements and development strategies:

1. Effective Communication Skills (Verbal, non-verbal and written)

2. Diversity in the Workplace and in the Global Marketplace (Managing awareness and sensitivity)

3. Intercultural Competency (Worldwide perception, adaptable behavior and conscious communication)

4. Multilingual Competency and Cross-Cultural Awareness (Given linguistic and cultural differences)

How to add value to your intellectual capital?

Global corporations rely on employees with excellent knowledge of their respective companies, the market conditions were they operate and keen awareness of their international clients¡¯ needs and expectations.

Large corporations are building and maintaining their competitive advantage in the new global economy by attracting, hiring, retaining and developing human talent with a higher knowledge base, skill competencies and the potential to boost their careers. After all, every employee¡¯s brainpower contributes to the overall organization¡¯s intellectual value.

How to build a corporate learning organization to produce highly skilled individuals?

These days companies are struggling with recruitment and retention of talent while employees no longer expect or want to have a ¡°Job for Life¡± or to be motivated just by financial benefits and promises of career development opportunities. Corporations need to offer their employees a clear and consistent balance between a meaningful working environment and a learning experience that satisfy that satisfy their personal and professional development goals.

As the workforce becomes more global and more diverse, strong business skill competencies are needed to take on global responsibilities and to manage fundamental problems in the workplace such as:

1. Poor communication between individuals, entire departments and companies around the world.

2. Lack of trust between management and employees, departments, teams, colleagues and clients.

3. Lack of knowledge, resources, unproductive processes and leadership. (Performance gap)

4. Weak interpersonal skills dealing with many different types of people, cultures and experiences.

5. Weak crisis management strategies and inefficient conflict resolution practices that are often reactive.

Corporate Universities are becoming a necessity for large corporations looking to attract, retain, train and develop their precious workforce. By setting up, the learning organization they are sending the right signal to the people that they employ, potential recruits from the tight labour market, associates around the world, clients and competitors.

Corporate learning organizations are collaborating with corporate organizational development executives, consulting companies, business schools and experienced professors to develop a variety of training programmes to meet their specific internal and external needs and objectives in terms of cost, focus, quality standards and ROI.

Executive education is at a premium and companies are learning to deal with global changes and challenges.








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Contact Information:
Nelson Leon PH.D.
Director - Corporate Organizational Development
Phone: 212-732-3324 Fax: 212-732-1846

Nelson Leon is Director of Corporate Organizational Development and founder of Communication Core, based in Wall Street, NY. He is committed to build and support learning organizations through the development of co-sourcing relationships with Human Resources executives in Fortune 1000 companies. E-mail:lnelson@mlc.com Web Site: www.communicationcore.com

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